Structure of a Winning Presentation: Opening, Body and Closing

A winning presentation does not rely on improvisation, but on a classic and proven structure: an engaging opening, a clear body and a memorable closing. This structure guides the audience and makes your message easy to follow and remember.

The Opening: Engaging the audience in the first 30 seconds

The first few seconds of your presentation are the most critical. You have a very small window of opportunity to grab your audience's attention before their minds start to wander.

Instead of starting with a boring "Hello, my name is...", you must hook them immediately with a high-impact opening.

The most effective techniques include:

A shocking statistic or a surprising, groundbreaking fact.

A short, relevant emotional story that connects to the topic.

A thought-provoking rhetorical question.

The goal is to create a mental "jolt" that gets the audience interested and wanting to know more.

The rule of three: structure the body of your presentation into three key points.

Once you have their attention, you must present your content in a way that is easy to digest.

The human brain is programmed to recognize and remember patterns, and the most powerful pattern in communication is the number three.

To avoid overwhelming your audience with too much information, the best strategy is to structure the body of your presentation around three key points.

This "rule of three" not only makes your message clearer and more organized, but also makes it much easier for listeners to remember.

The technique "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them."

This is the formula that gives coherence to your entire presentation and ensures that your message is reinforced in the audience's mind.

It works like a map for the listener:

Tell them what you're going to tell them (The Opening): After your initial hook, present a brief preview of the three key points you're going to make. This gives the audience a clear roadmap of what to expect.

Tell them (The Body): This is the main part of your talk, where you flesh out each of your three points with details, examples, stories and evidence.

Tell them what you told them (The Close): In your conclusion, summarize your three main points again to anchor the message in their memory.

The Closing: summarize the key message and end with a call to action.

The end of your presentation is what the audience will remember most clearly, so it must be powerful and deliberate.

An effective closing has two essential components:

Summarize the key message: briefly reiterate your three main points one last time to ensure retention.

End with a call to action: The most important part. Yo